There are too many things going on. I start interviewing next week. I have been waiting for this for 2 years.. the wait has made me very enthusiatic about the new prospects, a tad bit apprehensive and paradoxically a little unfocussed. I have a exam coming up, I am also going to the Liver Meeting (I attended it last year, and would like to attend it every year for the rest of my life.... live updates at the end of the month!). I reiterate there are too many things going on!
So, everytime my mind wanders I will write a post on where she goes visiting! Today, it is MUNI, his quaintness, idiosyncrasies and very personality.
I travel the San Francisco MUNI everyday. I am a true fog city denizen: MUNI Rider, exotic food sampler, dresser of layers, random walker, lover of The Bridge and not of California! Traditionally all Bay Area emigrants are Yuppies! Can't really call myself a yuppie. Upwardly mobile: if I match. Entrepreneur: Dude, I have at least 6 years of education left. Let's have a normal amount of perspective here!
The MUNI has four oft used avatars..all his forms weird and lovable in their own ways. The Buses, The Light-Rails, The Street Cars and of course The Cable Cars. The Cable cars are the oldest : in concept and maybe production. But they are like little brothers. They are pampered, expensive to maintain, often throw tantrums (breakdowns all the time!), always forgiven when late and above all loved by everybody who meets them! There are two lines of the cable car that originate very close to my tiny apartment. I take the Cable cars when I am little sad , little lonely, little crazy or totally random! The Cable cars can cheer anybody up. All the jerks, the innumerable stops and the cold wind ignoring all your layers are forgiven. The spectacular views and sheer joy of living they have makes up for its shortcomings.
The vagaries of the N-Judah are legendary. The N-Judah is one of the light-rails. She has 4 more rickety old ladies for her cousins. They are a group of hags that huddle around Embarcadero once in a while and take forever to make their round trip. Almost everybody thinks they should retire and ask their more robust cousins to come to Frisco. However, they go on with an amazing perseverance, chugging along, not really caring about what people think. The N-Judah is the one I take most frequently, all the way to the doors of UCSF. She almost never comes on time; particularly when you have a meeting. She is dirty, in need of care, over used and pretty much the only one that cuts through the city and goes to Ocean BEach on that route. Sigh! Unavoidable Miseries. And wait till it rains, the joints will creak and jam, the dexterity will reduce, the roofs will leak and the old ladies will apologize profusely for their profound inadequacy! Sometimes they even bump into each other...
Then we have the Street-Cars. Robust ol' fellahs..Desire is indeed their middle name! The Street-Cars again start their route near my home. They come from all over the world, slightly arthritic with a few center-of-gravity kind of Parkinsonian jerks, but surprising fast for their age. They do an excellent job every weekday chugging along, allthe way to Castro at a decent speed and a delightful old-world charm. But best avoided on weekends, that is when every visitor of Frisco decides at the same time: 'we should take the F-Line (popular name for the street-cars)!. The Old Bones can't really take all that stress!
And finally.. drum roll...The Buses!! Every Bus carries a bit of the city in himself. He is all touristy at times with Australians and New Zealanders in Summer, the American Out-of-Towners in spring and the whole world in Frisco's fantastic warm Fall. Sometimes he carries a bit of China in him as passes through Chinatown or a bit of Mexico in the Mission. The 10 has a world of its own: laptops, aftershave, fashionable pumps, lunch totes and iPhones. The 10 cuts through FiDi. The Buses have their regulars. Over the year, I have my Bus-acquaintances. People who travel the lines regularly and I see them very frequently. My life falls into a pattern and it is in-step with strangers whom I know nothing about. And we see each other every day and somehow relax a little with the realization that everything is in place.I see the lady in the North Face Jacket who shops religiously at Whole Foods Market, I think she is German. Or the platinum blonde erstwhile hippie, always dressed in a bright pink tattered wool coat and red sandals; I think she works in Richmond. The partially blind incredibly perceptive young man with curly brown hair, who probably once had full-thickness burns on at least 50 percent of his body. The Japanese lady with her upper lip shaped perfectly like Cupid's bow; her daughter appears to have Down's and so do many other kids who take the route at that time to what I believe is school for the Specially abled. The African American Grandmother who takes her grand-daughter to school everyday. She has been on a wheel chair lately and it distresses me! The Gujrati man from Kenya, he always has a tweed cap and I wonder how the top of his head looks! I think he is a diamond trader!! The Sardarni from Jalander, who can speak only in Punjabi but always wishes the driver a good day. The Middle eastern driver who stops for me even when it is not a bus-stop. I can probably go on and on!
The Buses have become a part of my life but they have a life of their own. They have scant regard for traffic rules and at times the strangest people are their patrons. Not so long ago, this happened on a route I frequent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx6FRSemW38
Hmmm.. I am a bit careful these days. I avoid that route at times. But it also means avoiding all those people see everyday. Anyone can have seat...seriously :)
